Can someone please explain why I get these results when I execute the following commands:

for ((i=0; i<=200; i++)); do $(touch file.$i);done
rm file.*[0-9][0-9]

I end up with file.0 - file.9



for ((i=0; i<=200; i++)); do $(touch file.$i);done
rm file.?[0-9][0-9]

I end up with file.0 - file.99


Thank you

* matches any number of characters, including 0 characters
? matches ONE character, exactly 1.

You're getting the results you're getting because * can match any number of characters, including 0. So your "rm file.*[0-9][0-9]" is the same (in your special case) as running "rm file.[0-9][0-9] file.[0-9][0-9][0-9]". In other words, it removes all files with both 2 digits and 3 digits after the decimal. This is why you're only left with files that have one digit after the decimal.

Meanwhile, your "rm file.?[0-9][0-9]" will ONLY match files with 3 digits after the decimal, it would be like running "rm file.[0-9][0-9][0-9]". This is why you're left with files that have both one and two digits after the decimal.

Thank you... got it.

Please mark as SOLVED once you have a solution

Your first 'rm' command asks to remove items:

• whose name contains "file"
• followed by a period "."
• followed by zero or more characters "*"
• followed by a digit "[0-9]"
• followed by another digit "[0-9]"

Your second 'rm' command asks to remove items:

• whose name contains "file"
• followed by a period "."
• followed by any one character "?"
• followed by a digit "[0-9]"
• followed by another digit "[0-9]"

Command line wild cards follow the rules of what are called "globbing." Check out man 3 glob for the programmer interface if you are interested. Check out man 7 glob for the shell command interface.

Good luck,
~~~ 0;-Dan

DON'T FORGET -- mark the thread solved if you have your answers.

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